Deborah Lehr serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Edelman Global Advisory, a strategic business consulting firm. In addition, she is the Executive Director of the Paulson Institute, a think tank founded by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

Deborah previously built and managed three successful consulting businesses representing diverse companies such as Sesame Workshop, Tory Burch, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Pfizer, Sony Music, Time Warner and Boeing.

In addition, she served as Senior Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch, was a Senior Managing Director at the New York Stock Exchange focused on emerging markets and was President of Stonebridge China, with offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Prior to joining Stonebridge, Deborah was a partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, a global top-10 law firm, where she helped build a successful trade business.

Deborah also served in the U.S. Government as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China, a Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council and involved in export control and trade policy issues at the Department of Commerce.

Deborah is the founder and Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition, focused on fighting against the looting of cultural heritage by organized crime and terrorist organizations. UNESCO has nominated Deborah as one of its inaugural list of accomplished global women. She also received the prestigious Hadrian Award from the World Monument Fund for her work in fighting the illicit trade in antiquities.

Deborah has lived and studied around the world, including China, England, France, and Germany. Her writings have been published in Foreign Affairs, the Wall Street Journal, the South China Morning Post, U.S. News and World Report, and Caixin Magazine, among others. She has also appeared on television speaking about China, climate, nature financing as well as antiquities trafficking.

Deborah is on the Board of the National Geographic, the U.S-China Business Council, the World Monuments Fund, the Middle East Institute, and the Sesame Workshop Global Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

 
"We build trust with international partners to think outside the box, to bridge cultural and geographic divides, and to shape outcomes for success."

Deborah Lehr, CEO & Managing Partner

Global business strategist and antiquities anti-trafficking activist